


Unpredictable

by Born In Captivity- Ineligible to Release (Jashasedai)



Series: Alternate Universe - Tame Racing Drivers [31]
Category: The Grand Tour (TV) RPF, Top Gear (UK) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Tame Racing Drivers, Doubles of Every Character, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 08:10:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11939955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jashasedai/pseuds/Born%20In%20Captivity-%20Ineligible%20to%20Release
Summary: In an AU where a secret species is used as Tame Racing Drivers, Top Gear makes a lot of decisions in their struggle to make life better for all Racing Drivers.The short time they had with the Black Stig will always be remembered fondly.





	1. Unpredictable

**Author's Note:**

> Notes Beginning:  
> This is part of the Tame Racing Drivers AU. Read the series summary.
> 
> If you want to know why they are in Antarctica, please read "Tame Racing Driver" first.  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/7615867

**Antarctica- 2016**

 

Jeremy stood outside the production tent in Antarctica and watched the Grand Tour Broadcast go live.

He watched James and Richard and the two Stigs celebrate.

The two remaining Stigs.

"Forza Midnight," He said, in the way of people all over the car world, mourning for lost Racing Drivers.

The one thing he really regretted.

  
**Dunsfold Aerodrome: The Top Gear Test Track- 2002**

  
He'd paid the money and signed the contract without ever seeing what he was buying. He'd never bought a Racing Driver before. He didn't know what it entailed. What it should have entailed.

Andy had gone to get him. Andy, who Jeremy had known since childhood and trusted with his life, and more importantly, trusted with his career. He had told Andy immediately about matching with Blue. Tiff had made him swear up and down to secrecy, made him sign mountains of paperwork. Old Top Gear had bought Racing Drivers to serve as doubles for all of it's full time hosts.

They all already knew about Racing Drivers. It was need to know to be a motoring journalist. You'd never be allowed on the pit lane at Race time without clearance, or special dispensation, or some situation where all the Racing Drivers were out of the way.

"His name is 80." Andy stood cross armed over the crate. "That's it. The records are wiped, except his match's name. He never existed, according to the FIA database. They were going to euthanize him earlier than usual. Too hard to control."

Jeremy rolled up his shirt sleeves and picked up the crowbar. Geeze, they'd transported Blue in a ventilated, insulated, plastic carrier. This was literally a wooden crate with a few holes drilled in. It was nailed shut.

"You can't be here when he takes his helmet off," Jeremy said, starting to pry at the lid.

"I know. You, be careful. They say he's unpredictable." Andy walked out of the room on the side of the hanger.

Jeremy pulled the lid the rest of the way off and shivered.

There was a Racing Driver lying in the crate. Wearing black overalls that were pretty much grey with age. His helmet was scratched, in a few places, quite deeply. He had his arms crossed over his chest like he was giving a stern look. He was breathing very shallowly.

Images came back, before he could stop them, of a Blue suited Racing Driver in a more comfortable, plastic crate.

He gulped.

As he watched, the Racing Driver's breathing deepened.

The slight tension told Jeremy he was fully awake behind the tinted visor, watching the human leaning over him.

Blue had always sat up, eager to get out of the crate and on to whatever adventure they would be experiencing that day.

That was the first difference between the Racing Driver he'd known so well and this one.

The black suited Racing Driver just let his helmet fall against the side of the crate with a sigh.

[Hello,] Jeremy said in the Racing Driver sign language.

The Racing Driver shifted a little. That was all.

[Do you feel alright? Was your trip safe?] Jeremy asked, smiling.

[Yes. Thank you.] He barely moved his hands. He sat up, then, though. He was tall, and skinny. That reminded Jeremy of Blue, again, back when they'd been young together.

[Come on, this way, then. You can take your helmet off if you like.] Jeremy stood up and gestured towards the door across from the one Andy had gone out via.

[Yes. Thank you,] He reached up and pulled his helmet up and off. His face was thin and pale. He had a few inches of thin, stringy hair that had been washed and then put back in the same helmet as it had gone unwashed in. He had been shaven, poorly, it was obvious he was already suffering ingrown hairs from the botched job of it. He had blue eyes that didn't dart around, taking in every little detail, like Blue's had, they looked down at the floor.

Jeremy walked over to the door and heard a desperate little whimper.

He turned around. The Racing Driver was standing there, wide eyed, gaze locked on the door. He swallowed and looked at Jeremy and back at the door. [Stallion told me when you came to get me I should be brave.] He closed his eyes for a moment and pressed his lips together.

When he opened his eyes again, they were full of tears.

He nodded to himself. [I am brave like my Stallion wants,] He straightened up, and looked Jeremy in the eyes, his hands moving in light, sweeping gestures. [But please don't make it hurt me?]

Feeling out of his depth, Jeremy gestured, [I'm not going to hurt you.] He tried to keep his gestures calm.

The Racing Driver nodded and stepped forward to Jeremy's side. [Thank you.]

He didn't move to open the door, just looked at the Racing Driver's determined expression and thought. [What are you expecting?] He asked eventually.

[Needles?] The Racing Driver made a curious face at Jeremy. [It will be needles? Stallion said sometimes they use pills, but usually only if they put you down at a track if you crash.]

Jeremy swallowed, hard. [No. I'm not going to put you down. We bought you so the companies wouldn't put you down.]

The response to this was precisely not what Jeremy would ever have anticipated.

The Racing Driver made an incredulous face, [What? Ever?]

[No, not ever.]

He thought about this with a great deal of evident disbelief. [Then where are we going?]

[To your new room. Then we could talk about a match.]

[There isn't a match waiting for me,] The Racing Driver told him, matter of factly.

[That's what we need to talk about.] Jeremy told him. From the calm acceptance of the lack of match, he had a feeling the Racing Driver wasn't going to just accept the news Jeremy had for him. [After that, I want to show you where you'll be working. It's nothing too impressive, but we brought you here to learn our track.]

The Racing Driver's head went back. [A track?! I'm here to learn a track?]

He shimmied and threw a fist into the air. [Yaaaaa-eeeesssss!]

He reached out and pulled Jeremy into a big, back thumping hug.

Unpredictable. Jeremy thought. Definitely unpredictable.


	2. Unplanned

**British Coast, HMS Invincible- 2003**

  
Perry McCarthy wasn't impressed with Midnight.

Jeremy watched the Black Racing Driver track the human's movements, only ever turning his helmet. Perry was over talking to some female naval officer. The three of them were on a shoot. They were coming towards the end of the shooting schedule for the series. That would be a relief. There had been so much tension between the Racing Driver and his intended match.

[He's going to watch me, this time, isn't he?] Midnight asked Jeremy. He wrung his hands. The hope in his body language was innocent to the point of naivete.

[He should,] Was all he said. Should meant ought to, it didn't mean likely to.

Perry came back over. He ignored Midnight. "Alright, that's it. The last shoot is totally set up. After this I'm out of here. You can take that career killer and make it be Dawe's duckling. Or whatever. I don't care." He turned to Midnight. [You go with Dawe.] He sneered in the black visor, muttering, "Maybe you can kill his career for awhile." Then he walked away.

Midnight looked up at Jeremy. Shock was evident in every line of his body. [He'll change his mind, right? He will want to be friends with me. I've been so good all season so he would love me. I've done everything he told me to. I learned the track as well as I can. He's going to remember to love me, right?] His hands were flinging out, barely making any sense as they went on. Getting hysterical.

Jeremy watched the man walk away. [I don't think he is.] He regretted saying it the instant he moved his hands.

The hope visibly drained out of Midnight. He sagged like a tire without air in it.

He got in the Jaguar.

Jeremy watched him grip the wheel and look down the aircraft carrier.

He watched him gun the engine.

He watched him pass the brake point without ever touching the pedal.

Perry didn't even know what had happened until the female naval officer pushed him out of the way and started ordering soldiers, organizing a rescue effort. She ran past him to do her best to save the Racing Driver that had gone off the end of the aircraft carrier. Perry looked at Jeremy, aghast.

Jeremy just watched the unbroken ocean horizon beyond the empty deck, frozen in place.

  
**British Coast- 2003**

  
The Top Gear crew was returned to the mainland by helicopter. Perry, still stunned, had been herded away by one of the producers. Jeremy got in his review car of the week and headed back to the hotel. He had the radio off. He drove in silence. His mobile rang. He answered it and listened.

"I'll let the BBC know that we won't need to put the Stig down, after all, shall I? They'll be thrilled that we've saved them the FIA fee for revealing a Racing Driver's identity." Andy said, casually.

"I can't believe Perry told. As angry as he was that it was Midnight and not him that teams were expecting when they hired him, it seems out of character for him to pose as Midnight. On purpose. He wasn't even watching when..." Jeremy's voice caught. All he'd been able to think about since it happened was a Porsche crushed around a tree.

"Well, now that we have footage of the Stig dying, we are out from under that little problem."

"We'll need a replacement Stig." Jeremy said.

"I've got a lead on a fast White. We'll have to change some promo materials, but I think he'll be a good fit."

"Does his match drive? I'd rather not have a repeat of this mess."

"His match drives. He isn't going to be willing to match. I actually had a suggestion about that, but I'll have to run it by you in person."

"Do I know the match?"

"His name is Ben Collins, F3 and LeMans."

Jeremy didn't know him off the top of his head. He navigated a roundabout.

Andy waited for him.

"Did the divers fish our package out of the sea?"

"Yes. He's on his way to South Africa, now."

"Will he be alright, Andy? Did we do the right thing?"

Andy sighed. "He laughed when I told him Perry cried over him 'dying.' Then he said, "I told you when I came, there isn't a match waiting for me.""

His deep, gruff, spoken impression of Midnight's 'voice' was so different than Jeremy imagined Midnight's speech in his own head. Then again, it had always been hard to stop comparing him to Blue. Soft spoken, razor witted Blue. Andy probably had a better grasp on Midnight, anyway. After all, he was the one who spent the most time around him.

 

**Antarctica- 2016**

  
Jeremy went back into the production tent, out of the cold. Andy smiled up at him from one of the tables.

"You've got a call from Australia."

A sharp, thin, blue eyed face was looking up from the monitor. [Hello, Jeremy. We watched the Broadcast. It was very amazing!] Midnight gestured. There was lag and his image stopped a few times.

[How are the matches' families? Are they all settling in?] Jeremy asked.

[They are good. It is very sunny, here.] Another sharp, thin, blue eyed face nudged the other out of the way. [Did self tell you we liked the video?] The second Racing Driver looked identical to Midnight.

[Dark Sky, rude interrupting!] Midnight teased his twin. [Of course I did.]

[Hello, Dark Sky.] Jeremy gestured.

[Hello, Jeremy!] Dark Sky gestured back. He nuzzled against his brother. They were the perfect matched set. Matched to each other nearly a year before the handlers had brought Perry to Midnight. The men had been so confused when the Racing Driver, safely already matched, had blinked, open faced at the human boy and no bond had formed. When they tried again with Dark Sky, still no bond had formed.

So Midnight, Dark Sky and Perry had lost out on any career as a bond pair. The Racing Drivers had been sent to separate holding facilities, lost to each other.

Until Jeremy, not sure what he was looking at, saw that their newly acquired Stig was not the only one listed as being a match to Perry McCarthy.

So they bought another Racing Driver.

Then they sent Midnight off an aircraft carrier under VERY controlled circumstances, wearing a rebreather, awaited by a team of navy divers. They reported him dead, so FIA would never look for him, and sent him to safety in South Africa, where his twin brother was waiting for him.

They were two of the most precious members of the Top Gear, and then the Grand Tour Crews. One of their most precious sources of information. Precious lives. Precious friends.

[Midnight found a human friend.] Dark Sky gestured, suddenly. [Her name is Gina. She's funny. She knows how to gesture.]

Jeremy and Andy looked at each other. [Like a mate...friend?] Jeremy asked.

[No, just a friend,] Midnight said, exasperated.

[Is she matched, how does she know how to gesture?]

[She says her father was matched. His Racing Driver lives with her family, now.]

"Jeremy..." Andy started.

"I know." Jeremy put up a hand to stop the rest of Andy's remark.

[Her father's Racing Driver, is he named Shoe?] He gestured the familiar name sign slowly, so there could be no confusion, even with lag.

[Yes. He is. How did you know?] Midnight asked, delighted.

Jeremy and Andy made eye contact. The Black Stig had made friends with Gina Schumacher. [Some things are easy to predict.]

**Author's Note:**

> Notes End:  
> Real People don't belong to me.
> 
> This story is fiction and is no reflection on anyone in it. The story does belong to me, as does the AU in which it is set.


End file.
